About "Me"

Ahem, Me is in the prime of life. Me holds a PhD and is trying to be jobless. Me masquerades the time spent on the net as doing research in Artificial Intelligence. Me desists from praising 'myself', so I won't proceed further :D ...

Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Colonel (Col1):[strides up to his regiment standing at attention and screams] Attention! The day has come. The day that we have been prepared for. The day to show our worth. The day to attain glorious victory in battle and obtain salvation. Today, we shall see real action. Our services have been sought to help a beleaguered nation. So what if we are mercenaries! We still fight for the good and aim to vanquish the evil! And that is what we will do today. Be ready for transportation in 10 minutes! Dismissed!

The first regiment enters the nation to find it in huge turmoil. At their first rendezvous point with the Lieutenant General of the local military:-Lt. General of local military (LGLM): Colonel.Col1: General. [they shake hands]LGLM: We appreciate your quick response. As you might have noticed on your way here, our great nation has been invaded by foreign groups of uncertain origin. It seems to have been quite a covert operation as they have spread themselves around without being noticed. Now, they are creating havoc. Our great nation is under siege. Our forces are being stretched to their limit to overcome this menace. We hope your refined expertise will bolster us and help us defeat these foreign invaders.Col1: Of course General. You will be pleased to know that our reinforcements will be arriving once every 12 hours.LGLM: Indeed. Here is a dossier on the current situation. Godspeed!Col1: Thanks!

Col1 at a strategic meeting with his captains:-Captain1: The situation is grim, Sir.Col1: I know.Captain1: The local armed forces are battered. The invaders have complete hold in many regions.Col1: I know.Captain2: However, the local military has tremendously increased its production of soldiers.Col1: I know.Captain3: Still, it is not enough. Also, the quality degrades with increased production.Col1: [snaps] Perhaps, we should focus a bit more on our own strategy! The main concentration of the invaders seems to be here, in this region. [points in the map] The red zone. Our regiment should break up into small units and target these areas. The subsequent regiments will obviously devise their own strategies, depending on the situation then. Now, get to work Captains!All Captains:[in unison] Yes Sir!

Getting some free time, Col1 leans back and ponders about this nation. It seems to have come to a stand-still. All work and productivity has ceased. But, no holidaying either. The whole nation seems to be waiting, anticipating something to happen. Expecting him and his regiment to make it happen. Though he doesn’t have to interact with the locals directly, he is aware of the responsibility and trust placed on him. He sighs wondering whether his team and the subsequent ones will be sufficient and strong enough for this war.

Captain7 briefing his unit inside their target area in the red zone:-Captain7: Remember to distinguish between the locals and the foreigners. Try not to harm the locals! Also, focus more on destroying the regeneration capabilities of the enemy rather than killing them individually. Once they are unable to divide and multiply, they are as good as dead. Finally, remind yourself constantly that you have been created solely for this purpose. Now, disperse and attack!

Soldier1 and Soldier2 are back to back and firing in all directions. Suddenly, Soldier2 stops firing:-Soldier2: Halt! Haaalt! [Soldier1 also stops fire]Soldier1: What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you are injured. That is impossible.Soldier2: Of course am not. These parasites can never harm us! But look at who you are shooting! You have killed so many civilians. And also some local soldiers! You are doing more harm than good dude!Soldier1: Aargh, man! It is so tough to differentiate between them all. They all look almost the same to me!Soldier2: Focus dude! And why are you not using your sensory visors? Those will help you identify the targets.Soldier1: Oops, oh yeah! Okay, now let’s get back into the game![They start firing again]

A couple of days have passed. Back at the rendezvous point, Colonel of the 7th reinforcement regiment (Col7) arrives and is briefed by Col1:-Col1: Most of the previous regiments have focussed on the red zone. However, many of the invaders have infiltrated to various parts of the nation via the extensive and intricate transport system.Col7: Isn’t the local military also spread out all throughout the nation using this transport network?Col1: Indeed, that is how they function. Their production facilities are spread out somewhat over the nation. Their purification facilities, energising facilities are all in different regions of the nation as well. But, it does not seem to be sufficient. The local military has become weaker by this war and barely able to hold itself together. They need our expertise even in the non-critical areas.Col7: Okay. My regiment shall disperse itself into the transport network and try spreading as much as they can. Hope the following regiments will do the same too.Col1: Yeah, I will suggest the same to them too.Col7: Well then, all the best. [they shake hands and leave]

Soldier1 and Soldier2 are still firing around in the red zone. Suddenly, Soldier1’s rifle goes silent. Soldier1 nudges Soldier2, who also stops firing:-Soldier2: What’s wrong now?Soldier1: I ran out of ammunition. [he is white faced]Soldier2: Uh, oh! Does that mean, this is it?Soldier1: I guess so.Soldier2: But how come you finished yours, while I have so much left?Soldier1: That is due to the aggression my friend. [he smiles weakly]Soldier2: So, I guess it is good bye then?Soldier1: Yeah, off I will go. I will get into their transport system and flow towards salvation! The purpose of this life has been achieved! Whoa, I actually feel relieved now!Soldier2: All right my friend, all the best with your future lives! Adios!Soldier1: Adios![then he leaves by stepping into the transport network and moving with the traffic flow]

After many more days:-Col7: I think most of the invaders have been destroyed. We are reaching the end of this war.LGLM: Yes. We have been gathering reports from throughout the nation. The invaders are largely in disarray with just a few pockets of them showing any resistance.Col12: My regiment has dispersed into small groups and spreading all over the nation, using your extensive transport network obviously, and trying to mop up these remaining few invaders.LGLM: Yes, yes. All of our soldiers are also doing the same. Let me tell you that our great nation is extremely grateful to you all for your expertise and support in tackling this menace.Col11: Lt. General, as you know, many of our soldiers still have ammunition left. So, they will stay behind in your nation until they eventually waste away. You can make use of this opportunity by organising training sessions for your military by our soldiers. If our soldiers successfully pass over their expertise to your military, then you might not need us the next time these kind invaders attack your nation.LGLM: Indeed. That process is already under way in several regions of our great nation. It has been a great pleasure working with you all. [there is a round of salutation and everyone departs]

Afterword:- This is based on an incomplete true story because the actual story is yet to reach its climax. And, capitals in the alphabet are found in this post because this is a piece of 'literature and was written using a text-editor.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

so, the question is why am i blogging at such a painstaking and atrophying rate these past few months. there must be some reasons eh?

for one, life is going smoothly and pretty quickly, thereby not letting me think up of any worthless matter-less matter to add to the mess of the interconnected garbage spewing conglomeration. although, there are train-loads of uncertainties abound, some about the present, some about the immediate future, and some more about the time after that, those are being recklessly pushed out of sight and imprisoned in dark places.

ofcourse, i can't just blame myself, can i? the main culprit is twitter, which satisfies me with the illusion that i am writing something and contributing at least a part of what i should to the burgeoning mess mentioned above. it's all a ploy i say, a ___________ ploy!! (readers are encouraged to re-read the sentence by filling up the blank space with their choicest adjective).

being enlightened, i often repeat that twitter is no substitute for blogging. but i seem to exhibit my human-ness by not adhering to my own announced principle...

anyway, now let me get back to my shell, its cosy in there :P (yeah, emoticons are allowed to contain capital letters).

Thursday, March 05, 2009

yeah, almost a month has passed since the last post, but then it doesn't matter, does it?

many a ideas came by and then went away before i could catch hold of them.

i seem to be at a loss for words. abstraction doesn't seem to be effortless anymore. perhaps it is because of all the 'precise' writing that scientific papers require?

so what should i talk about? the few movies that i managed to watch or the many many more that i ought to have watched but haven't?

the book that i borrowed from the library 2 months ago but whose first page is still waiting to be discovered? or the many other books that were gifted to me over the past year which have been patiently waiting for their turn, in a line on the only filled shelf in my room?

or the busy days that seem to pass by in a hurry, but each day lingering long enough to proclaim that nothing much was achieved in it?

the excitement intermingled with the doldrums? the anticipations coupled with the ennui?

and on a unrelated note (not that most of the statements above have any clear relations within them), i realise i haven't been blogging much about my work, my phd, or my life here ....

why? perhaps because it is all good with nothing much to crib about, yet not extraordinary enough to entitle a discourse?